Celebrating the pleasures of a 21st century bookworm

The Sufferings of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In the month when a new German literary superstar is born (Herta Mueller), how appropriate that Lizzy revisits the first. Goethe, the bane of Lizzy in her university days or should that read Lizzy, the bane of her long-suffering 18th century literature professor? Goethe and I did not get on and my poor professor was stuck in the middle! In those heady days when everything was black or white and compromise was a word I could not spell, let alone understand.

So I really should have understood Werther’s extremism. Not so. It struck me as sentimental codswollop. The bleatings and bellyachings of an idiot, etc, etc. My applause was reserved for Thackeray’s mocking parody:

Werther had a love for Charlotte
Such as words could never utter;
Would you know how first he met her?
She was cutting bread and butter.

Charlotte was a married lady,
And a moral man was Werther,
And, for all the wealth of Indies,
Would do nothing for to hurt her.

So he sighed and pined and ogled,
And his passion boiled and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out,
And no more was by it troubled.

Charlotte, having seen his body
Borne before her on a shutter,
Like a well-conducted person,
Went on cutting bread and butter.

So what has happened in the 30 years since I first met Werther? Well, I have mellowed …. honestly! Life has a knack of blending in the shades of grey and, more importantly for Werther, I understand the language of heartbreak. (All say awwww!) I am now, and this is only to be hoped for, given all the hours I have practiced, a more sensitive reader appreciating the skilful use of imagery, leitmotif, structure and a well-placed literary reference. All of which abound within Goethe’s first novel, a seminal example of the Sturm and Drang (Storm and Stress) literary movement. Sturm and Drang – a revolt against highly sophisticated literary conventions, a celebration of the cult of genius, a veneration of Shakespeare, a “return to nature” and the expression of extreme emotion. A challenge to the rational control of the Enlightenment and a precursor to Romanticism. (Footnote 1).

I am also a bit of a cheat. Because, while I enjoyed this reread of Goethe’s classic more than anticipated, I enjoyed the lengthy and informative afterword in this Norton edition more. I’m not sure who wrote it – possibly the translator, Harry Steinhauer, himself as there is no other accreditation. It is a fine piece, putting Werther into its literary context, explaining how Werther’s fascination with Charlotte is only one of his psychological traumas and clarifying the brilliance of the young Goethe in portraying the totality of Werther’s breakdown not only via plot and language but also through structure. With the information provided in this afterword, it becomes clear that the ending, which appeared contrived and melodramatic to a certain unappreciative 19-year old student, is, in reality, a supremely constructed climax.

The afterword also brought the young Goethe to life in a completely unexpected way for who would have thought that Werther was the young Goethe, depression and amoratory experiences included! Thankfully Goethe didn’t succumb to the ultimate Wertherism, although there were many at the time who did, adding to the notoriety of a novel that allegedly defended the self-indulgent melancholy (and it must be said cruelty) of its hero. What really surprised me, however, was Goethe’s reaction to his own novel. Initially very proud of his work, he developed an aversion to it as he matured, revising it in 1786. The aversion never left him and instead of writing a preface for the 50th-anniversary edition in 1824, he wrote a poem envying Werther his escape from the sufferings his creator had to relive over and over again.

One more you venture, much bewept shadow, forth into the light of day, confront me on new flowering meadows, and do not retreat before my view. It is as if you were living in the early morning, when the dew refreshes us on one field, and after the unwelcome effort of the day the last ray of the parting sun delights us; I – chosen to stay, you to depart; you went ahead – and did not lose much ….

You smile, friend, with deep feeling, as is proper: a gruesome parting made you famous; we celebrated your wretched misfortune, you left us behind for weal and woe. Then the uncertain, labyrinthine path of the passions drew us once more; and we, entwined in repeated distress, finally for parting – parting is death! How touching it sounds when the poet sings, to avoid the death which parting brings! Enmeshed in such torments, half involved in guilt, may a god give him the power to say what he endures.

It appears young Lizzy had more in common with the author than not!

The Sufferings of Young Werther – Goethe Goethe 1/2

The Sufferings of Young Werther (Norton Edition)

—————–

Footnote 1: Definition of Sturm and Drang extracted from The Oxford Companion to English (!) Literature, 7th Edition.

OK, I’ll do it. How can that story possibly be true? Magistrate of where, when? Weimar? Goethe never held a judicial position, even while working directly for the Duke. After 1786 or so, his only official position was running the court theater. Faust, Part I was published in 1808.

One reason Goethe turned against Werther was because it attracted a stream of irritating literary tourists. Poor guy’s 80 years old, and people show up wanting to talk about a book he had written almost 60 years earlier.

While I’m complaining, I’d be careful about saying that Goethe is Werther or vice versa. Goethe always builds in layers of distance, even in his actual memoirs.

Thanks, Amateur Reader. I suspected that the story had to be untrue and scurrilous – heaven knows, where it came from. Or could it be that he wrote a letter to a friend supporting such an action? Either way the damage was done …. and so that it doesn’t spread further I’m removing the reference from my original post.

It was my high school reading. I don’t remeber being thrilled, but I didn’t suffer as much as you seem to on your first encounter with that book😉 Maybe because at the same time we were reading Polish romantic period writers, and we were already immersed in the climate?…

Thanks for the German Quarterly link – a lot of interesting stuff in that article. And now you have me tracking down other articles. This subject is a lot more complicated then I had thought, and, surprisingly, is still an area of open controversy.

Sylwia, what were you reading? My only exposure to Polish Romaticism is the amazing Pan Tadeusz. I’d like to read more.

Very well-written review. I liked both extended quotes. Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair”, along with Eliot’s “Middlemarch”, are my two favorite novels of the 19th century. This is a little off the subject, but have you read Thomas Mann? I really enjoyed his “Buddenbrooks” and “The Magic Mountain”.

Amateur Reader: Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki are the two most important writers of the period. Actually this year is celebrated as Słowacki’s year (he was born exactly 200 years ago). I recommend you read dramas by those two authors, which are lyrical and visionary.

[…] But I digress from the giveaway. We have 3 copies of Goethe’s quite rivetting tale of a young’s man unreciprocated passion to giveaway (US only). I found it surprisingly entertaining when I reread it a couple of years ago. […]